


The Open Seas, Just You and Me

by SalazarTipton



Series: It's Never Easy [3]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Drabble Collection, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2018-11-18 02:23:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11281785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/SalazarTipton
Summary: Various nuke drabbles (prompts welcome)





	1. Chapter 1

Duke's working on the cape rouge’s engine. He’s been down there for hours just trying to fix this one part but each time he thinks he’s got it something else goes wrong. He’s full of frustration and covered in grease. He’s determined to fix this; he’ll never give up on his baby no matter how much trouble she gives him. She’s his home and she’s all that he’s had for so long. 

Another hour goes by and duke is about to loose his mind. What could he possibly be forgetting? 

"Uh, you wouldn’t be looking for this right?"

He looks up to find Nathan peering down at him from the top of the hatch with something metal in his hand. Duke thumps his head forward to rest against the cool hull. He listens to Nathan trudge down the ladder and steps down next to him. He turns to watch him fit the part into place.

"What would you do without me?" Nathan asks when he rights himself, brushing his hands off on his jeans.

"Maybe have some peace and quiet for once," Duke shot back with a tired voice. Nathan rolls his eyes. 

"There’s coffee topside." Nathan leans down to press a quick kiss on duke’s cheekbone and is back up the ladder before Duke even wonders if he should say thank you. 

When he pulls himself out of stewing with his frustration at himself, Duke climbs up the ladder, closes the hatch, and stretches out his arms. He sits in his chair where Nathan is waiting on the crate next to his tomato plant with two mugs in his hands.


	2. Find the Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for grey-haven: love confession/letter

Duke leaned back in the bent beach chair half-buried in the sand and pulled from his beer. His legs were tucked up under himself with Nathan’s jean jacket draped over him like a small, stiff blanket. When the wind came over the water and Duke shivered, Nathan offered it since his own beer was doing a better job of keeping him warm than Duke’s. 

 

“So, you, uh, you know my big plan?” Duke cleared his throat after saying. 

 

“You mean finally getting out of your dad’s shadow and out of Haven?” Nathan supplied in a monotone in an attempt to mask the pang in his gut he felt each time Duke talked about leaving. 

 

Duke smiled harshly out at the waves and nodded. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

 

Nathan stumbled to his feet and gaped at Duke with a little sway to his stance. He tossed his finished bottle into the pile of others. 

 

“That’s it?” Nathan spat out. “You’re just running away and to what? I doubt you have a job lined up or some actual plan or--”

 

“You can come, if you’d like,” Duke interrupted him in a steady voice, still staring out into the dark waves. 

 

He could taste the salty air in his throat as it grew tight and wet. Nathan swallowed and looked at the waves instead of Duke’s fallen expression. They rolled over the sand with a gentle and crushing whoosh like all the other nights the two of them have spent in that spot. 

 

Instead of opening up his mouth and admitting why Duke leaving felt like his lungs being punctured, Nathan ripped his jacket out of Duke’s lap and stormed off the beach. He didn’t look back until he was in his truck and noticed the wet drops on the back of it. Out in front of him through the windshield, he saw Duke fall forward with his head in his hands. Nathan’s hand tightened around his jacket as he tried to fight back his own tears. The pocket crinkled under his grip. 

 

He pulled out a wrinkled letter with Duke’s curving print on the front:  _ Sorry, Nathan. _ He slowly pulled open the flap and slid a folded piece of paper into his lap. His hands shook as he opened it. 

 

_ Nathan, _

 

_ We’re both bad at saying the right thing at the right time, but you’d think by now I would have figured out a better time to say all this. You’re my best friend and you mean a hell of a lot to me, but I can’t stay in this town. I gotta get out from Haven and all its bullshit. Seeing the world is all I’ve ever wanted to do. Well, that’s not quite true. It’s all I ever told you I wanted to do.  _

 

_ You’re off to school and you’ll find new people. Maybe one day we’ll cross paths again, but I don’t really see that happening unless you decide to leave Maine, which we both know will never happen. You’ve got this state in your blood.  _

 

_ This is a shitty way to tell you this, but I’ve got nothing better. Guess it just proves what a shit guy I am...I love you, Nate. I have for a long time and probably still will for a while to come. Forcing all my feelings and problems on you would weigh you down when you’re just starting to find yourself.  _

 

_ So, this is goodbye. Hope you live a good life, _

 

_ Duke _

 

Nathan wiped the streak of tears from his cheeks and looked back out onto the beach. Duke’s chair is empty. He tucked the letter back into the envelop and stuck it in his sun visor. He scramble out of the car, his jacket stuck in the door when he slammed it shut. 

 

He ran past the dunes with sand flinging out behind his boots and spotted Duke down by the water’s edge. He didn’t turn as Nathan trudged down to him, though he unmistakably heard his clumsy feet. 

 

“It doesn’t change anything,” Duke said when Nathan stopped behind him to catch his breath. 

 

Nathan pulled on his shoulder until Duke would look at him. “It changes everything,” Nathan said with rage behind his words. 

 

Duke readied himself for a fist to meet his face, but the contact that came much far more jarring and soft. Nathan’s lips fit against Duke’s for a firm second before he pulled back to look him in the eye. He opened his mouth, but Duke didn’t let him say a word. Instead he pulled Nathan in by his button down and brought their mouths together again, unsure when he’d ever want to let go. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> February Prompts #4 - date night + nuke from the lovely GreyHaven <3

Audrey blows out the match and takes in her work. The small table set for two looks out onto the patio and the water. The wine is waiting beside her on a desert cart with cakes and other sugary threats Nathan can’t resist. There is no main course in sight. Now, she just has to wait for them to get here, which shouldn’t take long at all with how urgent she made her messages sound. She plops down into a chair and pours herself a glass of wine, pulling the bowl of strawberries a little closer to herself. 

 

When Nathan stumbles through the door, he has his gun drawn with a steeled expression hiding the panic in his eyes. One he sees her relaxing by candlelight in her sweatpants, hair pulled up into a messy bun, and wine in her hand, the urgency and panic bleeds away only to be replaced by annoyance. Not a minute passes when Duke drags his feet into his restaurant with sleep still in his eyes. 

 

“Why can’t this wait until tomorrow? You’d think being friends with your landlord would mean a little courtesy about hours. Who needs hot water this late?” he rambles to the room, blinking slowly in the low light. When he notices Nathan, his expression goes from sleepy to  _ done _ . “Let me guess: your water is just fine,” he sighs out. 

 

Nathan holsters his sidearm and waits for Audrey to explain herself. She sets down her glass and pops up out of her chair, ready to give them a talking-to. 

 

“Okay, so there’s no emergency--”

 

“No shit.”

 

“Aside from what happened--or didn’t happen--last week,” Audrey continues, giving Duke an unimpressed glare. 

 

“What was supposed to happen last week?” Nathan asks. He racks his brain wondering if he missed her birthday, but remembers that isn’t for a few months in the least. 

 

“Valentine’s Day!” She says getting more exacerbated by the second. 

 

“Yeah, busiest night here. You even complained about the music. So?” Duke says, crossing his arms. 

 

“So, you two numbskulls didn’t do anything!” 

 

Duke visibly sags. He turns to Nathan, trying to think of what to say, but Nathan beats him to it. 

 

“How is our relationship your concern? You don’t know what we do when we’re alone,” Nathan says in a huff. He puts his hands on his hips and opens his mouth to continue, but Audrey cuts him off. 

 

“I’m your friend, that’s why this is my business. I care about you both and you actually being happy together! When was the last time you  _ made the time  _ for each other--for a date?” She pauses to let that settle in. She picks up her wine glass and heads for the patio door. “You’re welcome!”

 

She heads outside, leaving her two favorite idiots alone. While they finally have a romantic night, she has a dirty supernatural novel and bubble bath calling to her upstairs. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments--they mean a lot to me. I'm always accepting prompts over on [tumblr](http://peachstiles.tumblr.com/).


End file.
